Collecting
halves by type
2-26-2007 - By Paul M. Green (Coins Magazine, February
2007)
Half
dollars offer a great opportunity for a collector wanting to build a type
collection that traces the history of the United States as well as the history
of the U.S. Mint.
Taken
from the 1794 to the present the half dollar is an interesting
challenge.....
Moreover, thanks to at least one significant hoard of the
earliest and most difficult half dollars, most types are available at what are
surprisingly low prices. This is especially true when you consider that the
half dollar, for much of its history, was really a high denomination that most
people could not afford to collect. Authorization for a half dollar was part of
the original Mint Act of April 2, 1792. It was delayed in production, however,
because the Mint had not yet been built. What limited attempts there were at
coinage production were being carried out in the workshop of John Harper, a saw
maker.
